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In this series, I will discuss some new technologies and techniques to make your circuit breaker maintenance program more efficient and effective.

I’m sure you’ll agree that keeping up with equipment maintenance can sometimes be a challenge, especially with limited resources. But, of course, the safety and reliability of your facility depends on it. For circuit breakers in industrial plants or commercial buildings, maintenance has usually followed a preventative approach, with regularly scheduled checks and testing. This is typically done every one or two years, whether each breaker actually needs it or not.

With most facility teams looking for ways to optimize the performance of their infrastructure, there’s increasing interest in alternative maintenances strategies. Fortunately, recent advances have been made in terms of the intelligence of circuit breakers, as well as new analytic capabilities at the software level. These have enabled a more condition-based approach, based on real operational and environmental inputs. The actual health of each breaker can now be predicted, as it relates to aging and other risks.

Based on this information, facility or contracted maintenance teams can tailor their maintenance schedules to perform servicing on each breaker when it’s needed. Risks can also be revealed that point to breakers needing more urgent attention, including replacement. It all adds up to improved safety and less downtime. But it can also mean getting longer life out of equipment while spending less time on maintenance.

So how does this all work? We need to look at the two different sets of conditions that cause a circuit breaker to age and require maintenance.

Operational conditions. 

Mechanical wear is determined mainly by the number of times a breaker opens or closes, as well the number of times its protection mechanism trips due to an overload or short circuit. But to truly gauge the wear on a breaker’s contacts – and, therefore, service life – you also need to take into account the amount of current flowing during each of these actions. More current, more wear.

Environment conditions.

Harsh environments can accelerate aging. High ambient temperatures, high power harmonics, and high load levels all contribute to higher overall operating temperatures. There could also be corrosive elements present, such as high humidity, salt, gases, or airborne oil particles. Finally, dust and mechanical vibration can each add to the stresses on a circuit breaker.

In order to fully optimize the life and performance of the circuit breaker, the maintenance plan should take into account the impact of all these operations and the environmental economy on aging.

Article from:

http://blog.schneider-electric.com/